A brief history of U.S. women's hockey

The team hasn't won an Olympic gold medal since 1998, when they defeated Canada 3-1 in the first-ever women's Olympic ice hockey tournament. In the two decades since, the U.S. team has won eight world championships and placed second—after Canada—in the remaining 12, and has medaled at every Olympics. In this year's Games, the U.S. team has won three out of its four match-ups, losing once to, you guessed it, Canada. Wednesday's game is another chance for the team to defeat its ultimate rival, and commemorate the 20-year anniversary of its big win in the best possible way.

Here's everything you need to know to get through this nail-biter of a match-up:

1. A victory against Canada would be especially sweet considering how things went down in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Back in Sochi, the Canadians won an upset match against the Americans. After a last-minute goal to tie and a winning score in overtime, Canada took home the gold. It was the team's fifth straight Olympic gold medal. Over the past five Olympic Games, the U.S. and Canada have competed for gold four times. Speaking about the 2014 loss in Sochi, American forward Hilary Knight told the New York Times, “It’s like having a bad relationship and it going sour. That’s what it is, right? It’s always going to be there. It’s a daily part of your fabric. At the same time, it motivated me tremendously.” Suffice it to say, these women are ready to win.

2. Off the ice, the U.S. team has already had a historic year.

In 2017, the U.S. women's team staged a boycott against governing body USA Hockey in the name of fair pay and promotion. After 15 months of stalled negotiations, the team threatened to pull out of the World Championship games. Their stand worked, and USA Hockey agreed to a four-year contract. The new agreement increased player compensation to about $70,000 per year, added performance bonuses, and for the first time, gave the women the same travel accommodations and protections as the men's team."We stood up for what we thought was right, and USA Hockey's leadership listened," team captain Meghan Duggan said at the time. "In the end, both sides came together. I'm proud of my teammates and can't thank everyone who supported us enough. It's time now to turn the page."

3. No, you're not seeing double.

Twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux are both forwards on the U.S. team. Hockey is in their blood: Not only did their father Pierre Lamoureux play for the University of North Dakota, but all four of their brothers played hockey in college. The twins aren't the only sister act at the Winter Games. According to NBC, U.S. player Hannah Brandt has a sister on the unified Korean women's team, and Switzerland has twins and another set of sisters on its team. "When we get the opportunity to be on the ice together, there's a chemistry that just never goes away," Jocelyne Lamoureux told NBC. "It's always there. So whenever we have an opportunity to have a couple shifts together or if we're ever put on a unit or line together, it's always there. And we've pushed each other every day whether it's workouts, during on-ice training, it's just that accountability that we've always had growing up."

4. Whether the U.S. wins gold or silver, you'll definitely be hearing more about women's ice hockey.

Thanks to the updated contract, USA Hockey has a mandate to improve "marketing, scheduling, public relations efforts, and promotion" of women's hockey. According to the New York Times, after Sochi, "American players learned that requests for the team to do television appearances and other promotions had gone unanswered." And Knight told the Times: "There was, to my knowledge, no marketing plan in place whether we won or lost the Olympic Games. To not access those different markets and gain that traction is a missed opportunity. That was really frustrating.” Four years later, armed with a new contract, the team will hopefully come home to the fanfare they deserve—whether or not they win gold.

Tune in to the U.S.-Canada game on Wednesday, February 21, at 11:10 P.M. EST (Thursday, February 22, 1:10 P.M. Korea time), and head to NBC Olympics for more information.